However, the commentary is terrible. No discussion of the social and cultural trends that impacted concepts of male beauty, just insipid rantings and quotes with no citation. And Reuters is oddly homophobic. Over and over, he tells us about "armies of female fans (and I'm sure a few male)" and "eyes that made women (and a few men) melt." Why are the male fans dismissed over and over in tentative asides in a book marketed specifically to them? How about "armies of male and female fans" and "eyes that made men and women melt?"

It also seems very curious that the biography paragraphs (in such small print that you need a magnifying glass to read them) closet every gay star except Sal Mineo -- even Liberace is merely the subject of "rumors." Does Reuters believe that we won't buy the book if we discover that Liberace, Troy Donahue, Rock Hudson, Ramon Novarro, et al. were gay?


Sorely disappointed   March 27, 2002
The gorgeous Guy Madison on the cover was the sole reason for my purchase of this book on this website. Photos of this actor seem to be very rare, especially from here in Singapore and I'd been thinking about buying this book for the longest time, hoping to see more of Guy. The only thing that made me hesitate was that I had recalled flipping through it once before when I saw it in a bookshop in New York last year and decided against buying it, although I had forgotten exactly why.

When I received the book a few weeks ago after I'd ordered it, I remembered why I didn't buy it... This book, to me, is an inconsistent and insubstantial collection of photos of the men of Hollywood. Admittedly, there are some very interesting and rare photos and portraits, particularly from the 30's to the 70's, but that took up perhaps only 50 percent of the content. The other half was mostly filled with out-of-focus (Richard Chamberlain in mid-stride - I'm sure there are sexier pictures than this one), common (Leonardo DeCaprio in a tux at some awards dinner - how common is that), fanzine pictures that were sadly & disappointingly included. In his introduction, Donald Reuter mentioned that it was difficult to include too many pictures in this book because "... it would either be twice as big (and expensive), or the pictures would have to be the size of postage stamps..." But, looking at the (poor) layout, it seems that there could have been so many more photos that could have been added; for instance, only 2 pictures illustrated the "Golden Boy" section! It is also surprising that Donald Reuter, whose resume includes being creative director, illustrator and designer, can produce such an amateurishly designed book (for all who are short sighted, the captions are TINY-- probably 2 or 3 point text!!)

This book could have been a wonderful tribute to the men of Hollywood, but it is lacking in so many aspects... and there were only 2 pictures of Guy Madison - including the one on the cover!


Some Very Beautiful Men   August 3, 2000
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

On the plus side, this book has photos of all of the beautiful men in show business and even a few outside of show business. Thus, everyone will find some picture they love. Mine is a shot of Gregory Peck, which I had never seen before, in "To Kill A Mockingbird", in which he is absolutely beautiful. I've seen this movie several times and this shot is not in the movie. It must have been a still. On the negative side, however, unlike most photography books, there is nothing cohesive or uniting about this book other than a huge range of men who were or are heartthrobs. This is especially true since all different photographers took the pictures throughout much of the twentieth century. If you are looking for a specific heartthrob, the odds vary on how well you'll do because there is only one shot per person. I could have used fewer men with more portraits of those few but, of course, I'd want to pick who the fewer men were!


A great book on the Greats!   March 26, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This was a very nice book, and absolutely worth having. I wish the writer included more text. This is particularly so regarding Guy Madison (the cover) whose face, I am sure, sold most of the books before they were even opened. The writer could have mentioned the official Guy Madison Web Site and the web sites for the other subjects in his beautiful book if he wanted to limit text to that extent. In any case, this book is a must for those who love movie culture.